EDITOR'S OPINION

Conservative government in action

Chabert Medical Center in Houma faces layoffs and severe cuts to services as a result of state actions to deal with a cut to federal Medicaid money.

The Courier and Daily Comet/File

Keith MagillExecutive Editor

Published: Saturday, October 13, 2012 at 10:47 p.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, October 13, 2012 at 10:47 p.m.

It is impossible to understand the demise of Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center — and the rest of the state charity hospital system — without talking politics.

At the center of it all is a conservative governor, Bobby Jindal, dismantling the nation's only state-run charity hospital system. The system is a Louisiana mainstay started by Huey P. Long, a populist who critics likened to a socialist dictator. Chabert Medical Center owes its construction and much of its existence to two liberal populists: its namesake, the late Sen. Leonard J. Chabert, and his friend and political ally, former Gov. Edwin Edwards.

Specifically, Jindal and his allies on the LSU Board of Supervisors have ordered massive budget cuts that will neuter the state's charity hospitals after Congress cut $859 million in Medicaid money the feds say the state should have never received in the first place.

This fits nicely into Jindal's conservative script, which includes no new taxes, trimming the size of government and, whenever possible, turning over state functions to private interests, who supposedly can do things more efficiently and effectively.

So far, nobody knows what will happen with the hundreds of thousands of poor- to middle-income people who have long depended on the state's charity hospitals for medical care. But it doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize they won't just stop getting sick, and they'll likely show up at other hospitals like Terrebonne General in Houma, Thibodaux Regional or Ochsner St. Ann in Mathews.

Those public hospitals — the latter is a public-private partnership — face financial concerns of their own, including progressively higher cuts to Medicaid reimbursements as part of Obamacare. If Chabert Medical Center closes or reduces services as drastically as the latest cuts would require, expect longer lines at other emergency rooms, clinics and doctors' offices. Hospitals might be able to pay for some of what it will cost to care for Chabert's former patients, but they will likely cover the rest by charging paying patients — those who can afford insurance — more money for care. And insurance companies will pass those costs onto the people and businesses who pay the premiums.

So this is not just about Mitt Romney's 47 percent; it's about everybody — rich, poor and everyone in-between.

Chabert, which has already dealt with millions of dollars in cuts over the past several years, now must chop another $14.3 million, about 15 percent of its budget. The plan would lay off 245 employees, about a quarter of its staff, cut numerous programs and reduce the number of beds from 80 to 56.

Conservatives should be pleased. Instead of raising taxes to perpetuate a system they might describe as socialized medicine, Jindal and the LSU board have cut costs so drastically that Chabert and the other state institutions will either close or operate as shells of their former selves. As for the 47 percent — Jindal and his administration are working on that.

It is conceivable that Medicaid patients will be able to find care at private or community hospitals and that somehow those institutions will be able to manage the influx, but I wouldn't bet on it.

So far, all we've heard from the Jindal administration are vague plans for public-private partnerships and how each community will require its own solution for providing health care to people who can afford to pay for little or none of it.

Dee Richard, a Thibodaux independent, complains that legislators have been locked out of the process and has proposed a special session for late November in an effort to reverse or lessen the cuts. But many lawmakers and observers say his effort stands little chance of winning enough support among lawmakers to trigger a session.

In this case, the truth is in the eye of the beholder.

If you consider Medicare and state charity hospitals synonymous with welfare, serving a population that neither earned nor pays for it, you should be elated. Jindal is doing what good conservatives want him to do — putting hundreds of government employees out of work, dismantling the nation's largest system of state-run hospitals and turning over care of those who qualify for Medicaid to private providers.

If you believe health care is a right — or you depend on the state's charity hospitals for your job or your physical wellbeing — you have reason to be alarmed and concerned.

Courier and Daily Comet Executive Editor Keith Magill can be reached at 857-2201 or keith.magill@houmatoday.com.

<p>It is impossible to understand the demise of Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center — and the rest of the state charity hospital system — without talking politics.</p><p>At the center of it all is a conservative governor, Bobby Jindal, dismantling the nation's only state-run charity hospital system. The system is a Louisiana mainstay started by Huey P. Long, a populist who critics likened to a socialist dictator. Chabert Medical Center owes its construction and much of its existence to two liberal populists: its namesake, the late Sen. Leonard J. Chabert, and his friend and political ally, former Gov. Edwin Edwards.</p><p>Specifically, Jindal and his allies on the LSU Board of Supervisors have ordered massive budget cuts that will neuter the state's charity hospitals after Congress cut $859 million in Medicaid money the feds say the state should have never received in the first place.</p><p>This fits nicely into Jindal's conservative script, which includes no new taxes, trimming the size of government and, whenever possible, turning over state functions to private interests, who supposedly can do things more efficiently and effectively.</p><p>So far, nobody knows what will happen with the hundreds of thousands of poor- to middle-income people who have long depended on the state's charity hospitals for medical care. But it doesn't take a brain surgeon to realize they won't just stop getting sick, and they'll likely show up at other hospitals like Terrebonne General in Houma, Thibodaux Regional or Ochsner St. Ann in Mathews.</p><p>Those public hospitals — the latter is a public-private partnership — face financial concerns of their own, including progressively higher cuts to Medicaid reimbursements as part of Obamacare. If Chabert Medical Center closes or reduces services as drastically as the latest cuts would require, expect longer lines at other emergency rooms, clinics and doctors' offices. Hospitals might be able to pay for some of what it will cost to care for Chabert's former patients, but they will likely cover the rest by charging paying patients — those who can afford insurance — more money for care. And insurance companies will pass those costs onto the people and businesses who pay the premiums.</p><p>So this is not just about Mitt Romney's 47 percent; it's about everybody — rich, poor and everyone in-between.</p><p>Chabert, which has already dealt with millions of dollars in cuts over the past several years, now must chop another $14.3 million, about 15 percent of its budget. The plan would lay off 245 employees, about a quarter of its staff, cut numerous programs and reduce the number of beds from 80 to 56.</p><p>Conservatives should be pleased. Instead of raising taxes to perpetuate a system they might describe as socialized medicine, Jindal and the LSU board have cut costs so drastically that Chabert and the other state institutions will either close or operate as shells of their former selves. As for the 47 percent — Jindal and his administration are working on that.</p><p>It is conceivable that Medicaid patients will be able to find care at private or community hospitals and that somehow those institutions will be able to manage the influx, but I wouldn't bet on it.</p><p>So far, all we've heard from the Jindal administration are vague plans for public-private partnerships and how each community will require its own solution for providing health care to people who can afford to pay for little or none of it.</p><p>Dee Richard, a Thibodaux independent, complains that legislators have been locked out of the process and has proposed a special session for late November in an effort to reverse or lessen the cuts. But many lawmakers and observers say his effort stands little chance of winning enough support among lawmakers to trigger a session.</p><p>In this case, the truth is in the eye of the beholder.</p><p>If you consider Medicare and state charity hospitals synonymous with welfare, serving a population that neither earned nor pays for it, you should be elated. Jindal is doing what good conservatives want him to do — putting hundreds of government employees out of work, dismantling the nation's largest system of state-run hospitals and turning over care of those who qualify for Medicaid to private providers.</p><p>If you believe health care is a right — or you depend on the state's charity hospitals for your job or your physical wellbeing — you have reason to be alarmed and concerned.</p><p><i>Courier and Daily Comet Executive Editor Keith Magill can be reached at 857-2201 or keith.magill@houmatoday.com.</i></p>